Viper Mk II Set

The Colonial Viper Mk II is the ultimate fighter in the Colonial Military. Its propulsion system is so powerful that despite being equipped with inertial dampers, it’s potentially deadly to inexperienced pilots who may be shocked by its power. Although there are only a few Colonial Viper Mk II ships left aboard the Battlestar Galactica, these fighters are the pinnacle of flight engineering throughout Colonial Space.

The following photo was taken behind the BC Ferries Terminal Maintenance building at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal in Vancouver BC in 2003.

Two Versions

There are two versions of the Mark II Viper filming mock-up sets made for the Series. There is the practical (hero) Viper and the non-practical (background) Viper.

Externally both vipers look identical but the cockpit section is what differs between the two. The “practical” viper has a fully realized cockpit for an actor to sit in while the “non-practical” viper did not.

There were also miscellaneous noses and wings exhibiting varying degrees of battle damage utilized on the “non-practical” viper as seen in this scene from Flight Of The Phoenix.

The nose cone, wings and upper engine intake section were removable from the two vipers. The wings were removed from the vipers while they were stored between filming. The following photo I took while setting up the Second Auction shows the practical viper without it’s nose or wings.

This image is a very rare shot of the “non-practical” viper as seen looking into the cockpit. As you can see it was never meant to hold an actor for close-up shots. It is interesting to see the general construction is EPS along with typical aerosol spray foam insulation used as the adhesive.

Photo I took of the “non-practical” Viper prior to it being shipped off to a private collector in France in October of 2008. The ladder did not go to France. This Viper Mk II was later showcased in a Science Fiction Exhibit in Paris — Expo Science et Fiction — from October 21st til July 3rd 2011.

Anecdote

The first major mission for the “practical” Viper was transporting it to the Tsawwassen ferry Terminal in Vancouver BC. When the Viper was transported, it created quite a spectacle for motorists as it made the long complicated drive by flatbed trailer to the filming location.

This CGI model of the Mark II Viper as created by Zoic Studios. Zoic created the GCI render off of Neville Conway’s blueprints and from detailed photos and measurements from the filming mock-ups.